


for us to be together (everyday is torture)

by cinderlily



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-05
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-08-19 15:56:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8215582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderlily/pseuds/cinderlily
Summary: They get the news in the middle of a freaking game, which Connor was going to have to kill Tobi for later. They had literally talked not two hours before the game and the guy had not said word one about it. Two hours. Tippet should not know where his freaking boyfriend is going to be next year before he does.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LuciFern](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuciFern/gifts), [optimusfine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/optimusfine/gifts).



> Tobias Rieder FINALLY FREAKING SIGNED OMG. So I guess I had a lot of feelings about that.

They get the news in the middle of a freaking game, which Connor was going to have to kill Tobi for later. They had literally talked not two hours _before_ the game and the fucker had not said word one about it. Two hours. Tippet should not know where his freaking boyfriend is going to be next year before he does. 

Well, okay, to be honest technically he should but the point still stood. 

He still had to play the rest of a freaking game before he could do anything about it. The only good thing about this was it gave him the best kind of adrenaline for the minutes, he was raring to go on the ice. Desperate to move the game along. Smiling like it had _actually_ frozen to his face. 

No one scored, not that it mattered, and they won and that didn’t even really matter. It was preseason, it was the Canucks and for the love of God TOBI HAD SIGNED FOR TWO MORE FREAKING YEARS. 

He rushed through a shower and threw on his clothes, ignoring the fact that Duke and Max were not subtly laughing in his direction. He would reserve all payback for a few years down the line when it was them on the line, not him. He had places to be and he was going to get home in the fastest (well safe but fastest) way possible. 

For a couple of games he’d carpooled with Duke but he’d driven _his_ car so Chuckles could get a ride from his partner in crime because he did not have time to waste. He was practically buzzing. This was awesome. 

When he got home, record time probably but who had the time, he found that during his car ride he’d gotten a text from Tobi with a simple smiley face and then the smiley face with money signs coming out of his mouth. He hit ‘call back’ at the top and paced his front room waiting for it to connect. 

“So you hear—“ Tobi started. 

“ASSHOLE!” Connor screamed into the phone. The happiness from earlier was slowly seeping out of him and he was definitely feeling the rage.“You are a freaking dick and I swear to GOD I’m going to kick your ass when you get your ass down here… Which… I mean… when? When are you coming back?”

There was a pause and then an amused chuckle. “You aren’t making me want to tell you.”

“Weeks, Rieder. WEEEKS. You’ve been evading the questions from me,” Connor said. “You owe me. Go.” 

“Two years, two mill the first year and…” 

Connor almost hung up, but he was banking on adrenaline for that. “NOT YOUR CONTRACT. When are you coming back?” 

“Oh, uh… Thursday? Yeah. I think they want me to report Friday and I have a few things I need to finish up here before I can catch a flight… so Thursday. Maybe Wednesday?” 

He took a deep breath, feeling for the first time in a few weeks like there wasn’t a brick on his chest. He fell back on his…well _their_ couch and covered his face with one hand. “You dumb fucker.” 

“Connor were you…” Tobi started, stopped and started again. “Are you okay?” 

Connor let out a wet laugh. “Are you **fucking kidding me**? I’ve spent the better part of a month thinking my boyfriend was going to be in Russia for the year. I also had to think that maybe a guy moving to another country was his way of saying something in the politest manner possible. Cause you TELL your boyfriend shit, dude. Dating 101. Like, even STROMER has mastered that rule.

“So yeah, I’m not exactly okay at the moment cause I’m a little pissed, kind of hurt but happy but _pissed_ but hopeful but still FUCKING PISSED.” 

It wasn’t even a thought he’d let really get much past the back of his mind, but it _had_ spent a good amount of time there, bubbling like every form of bad press he’d ever gotten. Every mistake he’d made. Every stupid fight they’d ever gotten into. Why would a guy turn down the NHL for the KHL when he could stay on a team that wanted him? 

A few hot tears came out of his eyes but he caught them before they actually ran down his face, as he was going for at least a little dignity. Tobi was not surprisingly quiet, though he could hear his breathing and once a few words in German. 

After a long few minutes he’d caught up with his own breathing, his eyes were clear of tears and the embarrassment was coming to the top. 

“Connor?” Tobi said, voice small and distant in the not location based manner. 

“Yeah?” he said, and apparently his voice was still a little wobbly. 

“I was never going to go to the KHL,” he said and it sounded guilty. “I didn’t… I didn’t think that needed clarifying. I thought you would get it. It was a play. A play for the team to give me more money, more _time_. More _you_.” 

Connor scoffed. “Tell that to Oliver.” 

“Low blow,” Tobi said but amended. “But I guess I deserved that. Why did you not bring it up to me? Why didn’t you tell me you were so afraid?” 

“To hear what? That you _were_ planning?” Connor asked. “Or maybe that I wasn’t a factor in play? You kept saying after the World Cup and then I asked you _after the World Cup_ and you all but said it wasn’t even on your mind.” 

Tobi inhaled. “It wasn’t on my mind because I’d just lost and I was a little hurt. I was also trusting my manager to get that done. I’d told him that he was to get me a place there, that he was to keep me there for as long as possible.” 

“I’m not good at reading minds, Tobias. We barely saw each other over the summer, where else was I to go?” 

“Not that I would break up with you by moving teams. I would never ever do that.” 

He rubbed at his eyes and an epically tired feeling came over him. It was a wave of exhaustion unrivaled. He walked into his… _their_ bedroom. He’d been sleeping close to the left side for weeks, hoping maybe it would feel less like it was so freaking empty if he pretended that Tobi was just on the other side of the bed. 

“Two years huh?” Connor said, toeing off his shoes and pants. “That’s good.” 

“And when those end I will ask for three more,” Tobi said, a little pointedly. “ _Someone_ already one upped me.” 

Connor slipped into the still unmade bed and exhaled a laugh. “Yeah well, I didn’t want to draw it out. Arizona is home now.” 

“Yes, yes.” 

“It’s better when you’re here, though,” he admitted. There was another silence, but he filled it instead. “Okay, still pissed. Less pissed, but still pissed. Tell me about your training today.” 

Tobi groaned into the phone. “Freaking masochists, all of them.” 

Connor smiled despite himself and fell asleep to Tobi describing the two hour session with an air mask and a treadmill. He kind of lost the narrative, but he’d admit shirtless Tobi was a nice image to have as he was nodding off. 

* 

He got back from practice the next day craving pizza something fierce. He was thinking about ordering some when the doorbell rang. He fleetingly thought that they needed to invent a mind controlled pizza ordering service as he opened the door to find Tobi standing there with an anxious smile on his face. 

“You’re not pizza,” he said dumbly. 

Tobi tilted his head. “No.” 

“It’s not Wednesday,” he blinked. 

“No.” 

Then all of it crashed in on him and he lunged forward to kiss him. He felt like it had been a decade since their last kiss, but with each moment the familiarity came back. It helped that Tobi relaxed into it. They did know how to kiss slow and sweet, but ninety percent of their kisses were like fights. Each one pushing and pulling to get the higher ground. 

Tobi pulled back first to breathe, and a small part of Connor’s brain claimed victory as it always did when it wasn’t him. 

“What are you doing here? How did you get here so fast?” 

Tobi stared at him, a small turn up at the corner of his lips. “Turns out you are home to me too.” 

Connor laughed. “Fucking sap.” 

He pulled Tobi in by his shirt, intensifying the kiss. 

Pizza could freaking wait.

I don't wanna wait for

Us to be together

Everyday is torture

Love

You know that the one place

I can really feel safe

Is thinking of your face

Love

Betty Who - Missing You 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks LuciFern for the beta. <3 And optimusfine for the idea. <3 :)


End file.
